Author: Patrick Hoffman

Patrick covers the NHL for Inside The Rink. He has previously covered the league for The Ultimate Hockey Fan Cave, WTP Sports, Sportsnet.ca, Kukla’s Korner, Spector’s Hockey, NHL Network Radio blog, TheHockeyNews.com, The Fourth Period, Stan Fischler’s “The Fischler Report”, as well as a slew of others.

Who was/is the John Madden of Hockey?

With the Super Bowl under a week away, it is hard not to think about football, even if we are all hockey fans here. When it comes to football, the person I think about is the great John Madden. Madden, who passed away back on December 28, 2021, was a Hall of Fame football coach, […]

Tkachuk Doing it All for the Panthers

Back when the Florida Panthers traded Jonathan Huberdeau to the Calgary Flames, many wondered how his offensive production would be replaced. Huberdeau was coming off a season in which he led the Panthers with 115 points on 30 goals and 85 assists. It was a career-best for him, and being in the middle of his […]

Stan Fischler Belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame

I want to preface this by saying that the man known as “The Maven”, Stan Fischler, has been a good friend of mine for over 20 years. Not only is he a friend, he is a wonderful mentor to not only me but many others in the hockey industry. I actually interned for Stan in […]

Rangers Need to Hit The Ground Running Out of the Break

With the NHL All-Star break currently going on and teams and players who are not involved taking a nice vacation, getting some important rest, and resetting their respective bodies for the second half of the season, it is time for many teams in this 32-team league to start gearing up for a Stanley Cup Playoff […]

Photo By Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Fall of Blues Goaltender Jordan Binnington

When St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington fully arrived on the NHL scene during the 2019-20 NHL season, everything came up aces. In his first start on January 7, 2019, he shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. In his first 20 starts, Binnington, 29, went 16-3-0-1 with a 1.70 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage, […]

Appreciating Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan

As a New York Rangers fan, I definitely appreciate what head coach Gerard Gallant has done for the team so far. I believe that under his watch last season, the team overachieved as they got to within two wins of reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014. He was also a […]

Campbell Must Turn Around His Game for the Oilers

When it comes to the Edmonton Oilers, they are all offense all of the time. With guys like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Kailer Yamamoto, the puck will go in the net. The team’s offense has never really been a problem. It’s the goaltending that has hurt the Oilers. […]

It’s Anyone’s Game in the Pacific Division

When looking at the NHL standings this season, there are a lot of exciting races going on. Will the New Jersey Devils, who currently (Tuesday, January 31) have 68 points, find a way to catch the Carolina Hurricanes (72 points) for first in the Metropolitan Division? Will this be the year that the Buffalo Sabres […]

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Varlamov Continues to Be Reliable on Long Island

Decades ago, teams in the NHL played their starting goaltender anywhere between 60-70 games. Back in those times, it was pretty much a given that it was the starter’s net for almost the whole season unless he faltered for long stretches. The backup’s job was to play anywhere between 10-15 games in the regular season. […]

Sabres Must Improve Defensively to Make Postseason

When it comes to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a team needs to be able to put the puck in the net, have players that can score goals on a consistent basis, play well defensively, be good on special teams, and get good goaltending. One team that really wants to make the postseason this year […]